Piano-bench.



J; N. WEEELEE.

PIANO BENCH. K APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 8, 1908.

918,240. Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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J. N. WHEELER.

PIANO BENCH.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. s, 190s.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

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THE NaRRls PETERS co., WASH/Maron'. la4 c JOEL N, WHEELER, OF GENEVA, ILLINOIS.

PIANOBENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Eatented April 13, 1909.

Application filed october 8, 1908. Serial No. 456,821.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, JOEL N. WHEELER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Geneva, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful lmproveinent in Piano-Benches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a piano stool or bench, in which the top is arranged to be made vertically adjustable by means of a plurality of traveling screws, in the present instance four, one at each corner.

Means have 4heretofore been provided for raising and lowering the top by means of a beveled center gear, beveled nuts working on the screws and rods provided with beveled pinions connecting the center beveled drive Wheel with the several beveled nuts.

l have found, from my experience in manufacturing this structure, that it is not only expensive in cost of material and in labor fitting it but that it is liable to get out of adjustment by the warping or slight derangement of either the body frame or top.

While retaining the general structure and arrangement of the body frame and vertically adjustable top with its adjusting screws, I have overcome the objections to the former structure by providing one or more master sprocket wheels at the center and one or more sprocket chains leading from the master sprocket wheel or wheels to sprocket nuts working on the vertically movable screws which elevate and lower the top of the bench or stool,

In the simplest or preferred forni of structure, l employ a single master sprocket wheel and a single sprocket chain for simultaneously operating the four sprocket nuts on the four screws but l have also shown an arrangement for utilizing a plurality of sprocket chains leading from a plurality of sprocket wheels on the central stem, the latter structure bein@ capable of practical use where the vertically movable stool top is heavy, requiring additional power to lift it.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawh ings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section in the plane of the line A-A of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line B-B of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section in detail in the plane of the line C-C ofllig. 2, Fig. 4 is a similar section in detail in the plane of the line DD of E ig. 2, Eig. 5 is a similar section showing one of the guide pulleys in elevation, Eig. 6 is a section similar to Eig. 2, showing a modiiied arrangement of the parts, Fig. 7 is a similar view showing another modified arrangement of the parts, and Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section in the plane of the line E*E of Eig. 7.

Referring to `Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the body frame of the bench or stool is denoted by 1 and may be of any well known or approved construction suitable for supporting the operating' parts.

The vertically adjustable top of the bench or stool is denoted by 2, its opposite ends and sides extending down, as shown at 3 and 1, to embrace the top part of the body frame 1. The top 2 is supported on four screws, denoted by 5, 6, 7 and 8, located near the cor ners of the top and extending downwardly through the horizontal plate or diaphragm 9 of the body frame` rlhis frame is provided with socket pieces 10 through which the screws 5, 6, 7 and 8 pass and the sprocket nuts which work on the screws denoted by 11, 12, 13 and 14 are provided with extended hubs 15, 16, (see Eig. 4) the upper head 15, resting against the under side of a keeper plate 17 and the lower hub 16 having its lower end beveled as shown at 18 and for the purpose of making the operation of the sprocket wheel silent, resting upon an elastic washer 19 interposed between the lower beveled end of the hub and the bed piece 20, shown at one end ofthe bench or stool, which primarily sustains the weight of the top of the bench or stool and transmits it to the body frame.

The opening through the bed piece 2O gives the adjusting screw sullicient clearance to admit of any slight lateral variation of the top while the socket piece 10 prevents the screw from binding in the wood. The lower rounded or tapered end of the hub 16 also insures a good clearance of the sprocket nut during its rotation, preventing it from binding.

ln the present instance, l have shown two master sprocket wheels denoted, respectively, by 21 and 22, (see Fig. 3) located in juXta-position one above the other and resting upon the flat upper face of a socket piece 23 through which the operating shaft 24 extends.

The upper portion of the shaft 24 is squared as shown at 25 to receive the master y The master sproc ret wheels 21,

sprocket wheels 21, 22, thereon and cause them to rotate with the shaft and the lower end of the shaft is provided with a crank 26 for the purpose of operating it and hence the master sprocket wheels 21, 22. The parts are held in assembled adjustment by means of a keeper 27 secured to the body frame, the shaft 24 being held in position by a cross pin 28 at its upper end, the cross pin resting on a washer 29 on the top of the keeper 27.

A sprocket chain 30 passes around the sprocket wheel 21 and leads thence to the sprocket wheels 11 and 12 at one end of the stool while a corresponding sprocket chain 31 passes around the master sprocket wheel 22 and leads thence around the sprocket wheels 13, 14, atV the o posite ends of the stool. 22, are ot the same size and the several sprocket nuts are of the same size so that any movement of the shaft 24 will simultaneously operate the four sprocket nuts to the same extent and hence will lift the top the same distance at each corner through the medium of the adjusting screws engaged with the sprocket nuts.

The proper tension is maintained upon the sprocket chains 30 and 31 by means of tension pulleys, in the present instance four, denoted by 32, 33, 34, 35. These are mounted in brackets comprising a base plate 36 and an over-reaching arm 37 (see Fig. 5), the base plate 36 carrying the arm 37 being arranged to slide on the diaphragm 9 or on supporting blocks 33, 3) iixed on the diaahragm, the said base plate 36 being retained, by means of staples 40, 41, driven into the diaphragm 9 or into the supporting blocks 33, 39, and loosely embracing the opposite ends of the base plate 36.

Tension is applied to the plate 36 and hence to a pulley, for instance the pulley 34, by means oi the coil spring 42, one end ol' which is iixedly attached as at 43 to the diaphragm 9 and the opposite end is attached to one end ol' the base plate 36. These tension pulleys 32, 33, 34, 35, serve to hold the sprocket chains in close engagement with the driving sprocket wheels and the sprocket nuts and, at the same time, prevent any rattling during the operation ol raising or lowering the stool.

instead of employing a plurality oi sprocket wheels on the shait 24, a single sprocket wheel may )e employed., as shown at 44, Fig. 6, and a single sprocket chain, denoted by 45, may be passed partially around the sprocket wheel 44 and thence partially around the iour sprocket nuts, two tension pulleys being employed to keep the sprocket chain 45 i'rom rattling. instead of the coil spring to apply tension to the chain,

bar springs, as shown at 46, 47, may be employed.

Where a single sprocket wheel is employed and a single sprocket chain, the arrangement may be changed to that shown in Fig. 7, the sprocket wheel 44 being located nearer one end oi' the table than the other and the single sprocket chain 45, being directed partially around the wheel 44 and thence to the two end sprocket nuts instead of to the two side sprocket nuts, as in Fig. 6.

Any slack in the sprocket chain, due to wear, will be automatically taken up by the tension pulleys and the latter may be arranged, as shown in Fig. 7, with a common iixed point, as shown at 43.

he structure as hereinabove described is a simple one, does its work effectively and quickly, and may be easily manipulated by a child as well as an adult. There is no need ol' any locking means to hold the seat in the desired vertical adjustment as the screws will exert sufficient friction upon the threaded nuts to prevent unintentional turning of the latter.

1What l claim is 1. The combination with a vertically-adjustable bench top provided with depending screws fixed thereto, ci a body-frame provided with sprocket nuts adapted to register with the screws, means for holding the said nuts against vertical movement while permitting them a rotary movement and a plurality oll master sprocket wheels provided with means i'or simultaneously operating them, andsprocket chains leading from the master sprocket wheels to certain of the nuts.

2. The combination with a verticallyadjustable bench top of a substantially rectangular i'orm, .and provided with screws -lixed thereto and depending from the top at or near each of its lour corners, o1' a bodyframe provided with sprocket nuts adapted to register with the several screws, means for holding the nuts against vertical movement while permitting them to rotate, a plurality oll master sprocket wheels fixed on a common shaft for simultaneously operating them, sprocket chains leading from the master wheels, each to a plurality of sprocket nuts and tension pullevs engaged with the sprocket chains for taking up slack.

ln testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, l have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this 5th day oi October 1908.

JOEL N. WHEELER.

Wvitnesses WM. GAYLonn, VJ. R. FRY.

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